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Bring the National Guard home. Immediately.
Norman Solomon asked that his earnest plea be reposted as widely as possible.
Bring Them Home...NOW!
The National Guard Belongs in New Orleans and Biloxi. Not Baghdad.
By NORMAN SOLOMON
The men and women of the National Guard shouldn't be killing in Iraq. They should be helping in New Orleans and Biloxi.
The catastrophic hurricane was an act of God. But the U.S. war effort in Iraq is a continuing act of the president. And now, that effort is hampering the capacity of the National Guard to save lives at home.
Before the flooding of New Orleans drastically escalated on Tuesday, the White House tried to disarm questions that could be politically explosive. "To those of you who are concerned about whether or not we're prepared to help, don't be, we are," President Bush said. "We're in place, we've got equipment in place, supplies in place, and once the -- once we're able to assess the damage, we'll be able to move in and help those good folks in the affected areas."
Echoing the official assurances, CBS News reported: "Even though more than a third of Mississippi's and Louisiana's National Guard troops are either in Iraq or supporting the war effort, the National Guard says there are more than enough at home to do the job."
But after New Orleans levees collapsed and the scope of the catastrophe became more clear, such reassuring claims lost credibility. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday: "With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the active-duty military."
The back-page Post story added: "National Guard officials in the states acknowledged that the scale of the destruction is stretching the limits of available manpower while placing another extraordinary demand on their troops -- most of whom have already served tours in Iraq or Afghanistan or in homeland defense missions since 2001."
Speaking for the Mississippi National Guard, Lt. Andy Thaggard said: "Missing the personnel is the big thing in this particular event. We need our people." According to the Washington Post, the Mississippi National Guard "has a brigade of more than 4,000 troops in central Iraq" while "Louisiana also has about 3,000 Guard troops in Baghdad."
National Guard troops don't belong in Iraq. They should be rescuing and protecting in Louisiana and Mississippi, not patrolling and killing in a country that was invaded on the basis of presidential deception. They should be fighting the effects of flood waters at home -- helping people in the communities they know best -- not battling Iraqi people who want them to go away.
Let's use the Internet today to forward and post this demand so widely that the politicians in Washington can no longer ignore it:
Bring the National Guard home. Immediately.
Norman Solomon is the author of the new book "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."
The National Guard Belongs in New Orleans and Biloxi. Not Baghdad.
By NORMAN SOLOMON
The men and women of the National Guard shouldn't be killing in Iraq. They should be helping in New Orleans and Biloxi.
The catastrophic hurricane was an act of God. But the U.S. war effort in Iraq is a continuing act of the president. And now, that effort is hampering the capacity of the National Guard to save lives at home.
Before the flooding of New Orleans drastically escalated on Tuesday, the White House tried to disarm questions that could be politically explosive. "To those of you who are concerned about whether or not we're prepared to help, don't be, we are," President Bush said. "We're in place, we've got equipment in place, supplies in place, and once the -- once we're able to assess the damage, we'll be able to move in and help those good folks in the affected areas."
Echoing the official assurances, CBS News reported: "Even though more than a third of Mississippi's and Louisiana's National Guard troops are either in Iraq or supporting the war effort, the National Guard says there are more than enough at home to do the job."
But after New Orleans levees collapsed and the scope of the catastrophe became more clear, such reassuring claims lost credibility. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday: "With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the active-duty military."
The back-page Post story added: "National Guard officials in the states acknowledged that the scale of the destruction is stretching the limits of available manpower while placing another extraordinary demand on their troops -- most of whom have already served tours in Iraq or Afghanistan or in homeland defense missions since 2001."
Speaking for the Mississippi National Guard, Lt. Andy Thaggard said: "Missing the personnel is the big thing in this particular event. We need our people." According to the Washington Post, the Mississippi National Guard "has a brigade of more than 4,000 troops in central Iraq" while "Louisiana also has about 3,000 Guard troops in Baghdad."
National Guard troops don't belong in Iraq. They should be rescuing and protecting in Louisiana and Mississippi, not patrolling and killing in a country that was invaded on the basis of presidential deception. They should be fighting the effects of flood waters at home -- helping people in the communities they know best -- not battling Iraqi people who want them to go away.
Let's use the Internet today to forward and post this demand so widely that the politicians in Washington can no longer ignore it:
Bring the National Guard home. Immediately.
Norman Solomon is the author of the new book "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death."
For more information:
http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon0831200...
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Bring the National Guard HOME now!
They should not be in Iraq dying for lies.
They should be in America saving lives.
They should be HOME saving lives, like the lives that were lost in New Orleans.
Please Call your Representativesin San Francisco (Numbers are in the blue governmental pages of the telephone book).
Sen. Barbara Boxer: (415) 403-0100
Sen. Diane Feinstein: (415) 393-0707
Rep. Nancy Pelosi: (415) 556-4862
Ask your Representatives to bring our National Guard Home now! And ask them to impeach Bush.
They should not be in Iraq dying for lies.
They should be in America saving lives.
They should be HOME saving lives, like the lives that were lost in New Orleans.
Please Call your Representativesin San Francisco (Numbers are in the blue governmental pages of the telephone book).
Sen. Barbara Boxer: (415) 403-0100
Sen. Diane Feinstein: (415) 393-0707
Rep. Nancy Pelosi: (415) 556-4862
Ask your Representatives to bring our National Guard Home now! And ask them to impeach Bush.
Some 6,000 National Guard personnel in Louisiana and Mississippi who would be available to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are in Iraq, highlighting the changing role of America’s part-time soldiers.
“The juxtaposition of the mission to Iraq and the response to Katrina really demonstrates the new and changing character of the National Guard,” Daniel Goure, a military analyst at the private Lexington Institute, said Monday.
The war has forced the Guard into becoming an operational force, a far cry from its historic role as a strategic reserve primarily available to governors for disasters and other duties in their home states.
At 1.2 million soldiers, the active duty military is simply too small to carry the load by itself when there is a large sustained deployment like Iraq. Nationally, 78,000 of the 437,000 members of the Guard force are serving overseas.
As part of the transformation during the war effort, the National Guard has promised governors that at least 50 percent of soldiers and airmen will be available for stateside duty at all times. In most cases, the rate is well above 50 percent.
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the Gulf states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs, with at least 60 percent of the Guard available in each state.
In Louisiana, which took the brunt of Katrina, some 3,000 members of the 256th Combat Brigade are in Iraq, while 3,500 members of the Guard were deployed to help hurricane victims and another 3,000 were on standby.
In neighboring Mississippi, the Guard had 853 troops on hurricane duty — a small slice of the more than 7,000 Guard troops in the state’s ground and air components. Some 3,000 National Guard troops from Mississippi are in Iraq, another 300 in Afghanistan.
The states in the hurricane’s path have relatively large Guard forces. But some states with smaller Guard forces and a high percentage of soldiers in Iraq have expressed concern that they may be stretched too thin.
For example, about 1,800 of Idaho’s 4,400 Guard troops are serving overseas, a somewhat worrisome figure for officials facing a high risk of forest fires in the middle of a drought — fires that Guardsmen would help fight by providing logistical support to front-line firefighters.
Mark Allen, spokesman at the national headquarters for the National Guard, said officials are confident the Guard can serve its dual roles.
“We’ve always done both. It’s just on a bigger scale today,” he said.
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1066780.php
“The juxtaposition of the mission to Iraq and the response to Katrina really demonstrates the new and changing character of the National Guard,” Daniel Goure, a military analyst at the private Lexington Institute, said Monday.
The war has forced the Guard into becoming an operational force, a far cry from its historic role as a strategic reserve primarily available to governors for disasters and other duties in their home states.
At 1.2 million soldiers, the active duty military is simply too small to carry the load by itself when there is a large sustained deployment like Iraq. Nationally, 78,000 of the 437,000 members of the Guard force are serving overseas.
As part of the transformation during the war effort, the National Guard has promised governors that at least 50 percent of soldiers and airmen will be available for stateside duty at all times. In most cases, the rate is well above 50 percent.
Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the Gulf states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs, with at least 60 percent of the Guard available in each state.
In Louisiana, which took the brunt of Katrina, some 3,000 members of the 256th Combat Brigade are in Iraq, while 3,500 members of the Guard were deployed to help hurricane victims and another 3,000 were on standby.
In neighboring Mississippi, the Guard had 853 troops on hurricane duty — a small slice of the more than 7,000 Guard troops in the state’s ground and air components. Some 3,000 National Guard troops from Mississippi are in Iraq, another 300 in Afghanistan.
The states in the hurricane’s path have relatively large Guard forces. But some states with smaller Guard forces and a high percentage of soldiers in Iraq have expressed concern that they may be stretched too thin.
For example, about 1,800 of Idaho’s 4,400 Guard troops are serving overseas, a somewhat worrisome figure for officials facing a high risk of forest fires in the middle of a drought — fires that Guardsmen would help fight by providing logistical support to front-line firefighters.
Mark Allen, spokesman at the national headquarters for the National Guard, said officials are confident the Guard can serve its dual roles.
“We’ve always done both. It’s just on a bigger scale today,” he said.
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1066780.php
- There will be no large-scale shifting of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan to help with disaster relief in Louisiana and Mississippi, a U.S. Central Command spokesman said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Trey Cate said top military officials are exploring ways to bring individual troops home to take care of families in need without altering the balance of forces in the war zones.
But top commanders are unsure if homecoming service members can yet visit areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina due to flooding and evacuation orders.
"There are lots of different options of getting soldiers back there," said Cate, who is based in Qatar. "We're going to do our best to take care of the troops and their families."
Navy Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, a U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman in Bahrain, said no U.S. warships in the Gulf would be redirected to disaster relief in the Gulf of Mexico, but individual sailors with family emergencies could be granted home leave.
National Guard units called up for rescue work in Louisiana and Mississippi had to make do without members currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
National Guard troops from Alabama and Wisconsin, along with other law enforcers, were ordered to deal with the shortfall.
Most Americans identify the National Guard with providing emergency services during natural disasters. But over the past three years, numerous Guard units have been sent to Iraq to fight alongside regular forces.
A brigade of roughly 5,000 soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard watched the disaster unfold on television at Camp Liberty, west of Baghdad. The troops are expected to leave Iraq by November, if their deployment is not extended.
In their absence, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle agreed to send 500 Wisconsin National Guard troops to Louisiana Wednesday to help out. The Wisconsin Guard itself is stretched, with 1,700 members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and another 1,000 mobilizing for deployment overseas.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she has asked the White House to send more rescue workers to free up the 4,000 National Guard troops already in New Orleans to stop looting and return law and order to the flooded city.
A brigade of Mississippi National Guard soldiers also remains in Iraq, attached to the II Marine Expeditionary Force.
More than 1,600 Mississippi National Guardsmen were activated to help with the recovery, and the neighboring Alabama Guard was planning to send two battalions to Mississippi to help cover the shortfall.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/12533540.htm
Lt. Col. Trey Cate said top military officials are exploring ways to bring individual troops home to take care of families in need without altering the balance of forces in the war zones.
But top commanders are unsure if homecoming service members can yet visit areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina due to flooding and evacuation orders.
"There are lots of different options of getting soldiers back there," said Cate, who is based in Qatar. "We're going to do our best to take care of the troops and their families."
Navy Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, a U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman in Bahrain, said no U.S. warships in the Gulf would be redirected to disaster relief in the Gulf of Mexico, but individual sailors with family emergencies could be granted home leave.
National Guard units called up for rescue work in Louisiana and Mississippi had to make do without members currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
National Guard troops from Alabama and Wisconsin, along with other law enforcers, were ordered to deal with the shortfall.
Most Americans identify the National Guard with providing emergency services during natural disasters. But over the past three years, numerous Guard units have been sent to Iraq to fight alongside regular forces.
A brigade of roughly 5,000 soldiers from the Louisiana National Guard watched the disaster unfold on television at Camp Liberty, west of Baghdad. The troops are expected to leave Iraq by November, if their deployment is not extended.
In their absence, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle agreed to send 500 Wisconsin National Guard troops to Louisiana Wednesday to help out. The Wisconsin Guard itself is stretched, with 1,700 members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and another 1,000 mobilizing for deployment overseas.
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said she has asked the White House to send more rescue workers to free up the 4,000 National Guard troops already in New Orleans to stop looting and return law and order to the flooded city.
A brigade of Mississippi National Guard soldiers also remains in Iraq, attached to the II Marine Expeditionary Force.
More than 1,600 Mississippi National Guardsmen were activated to help with the recovery, and the neighboring Alabama Guard was planning to send two battalions to Mississippi to help cover the shortfall.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/12533540.htm
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